


All I Want For Christmas

by snapchattingnct



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, M/M, holiday au, markhyuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21873256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snapchattingnct/pseuds/snapchattingnct
Summary: Donghyuck used to love Christmas. It was his favorite holiday of the year, but after a particular heartache, he stopped loving it the way he used to.Although, that all changes when the person that's the source of the heartache appears again with a mission to give Donghyuck a new reason to love Christmas again.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 4
Kudos: 170
Collections: DreamXmas 2019





	All I Want For Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thxyx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thxyx/gifts).



> For Thiya, I hope that this was what you were expecting when you had the prompt in mind. I had so much fun writing this! I had a lot more scenes planned but due to the timing, I had to cut them out so I hope you don't mind. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
> 
> Special thanks to my beta, Isis, for being a god send and helping me beta this piece so quickly even when I sent it so last minute. You're literally the best!

Donghyuck loved Christmas. 

It was Donghyuck’s favorite time of year because it was always filled with the happiest memories. He loved baking sugar cookies and decorating them with his mother. He loved playing in the snow and having snowball fights with his siblings. He loved skating around their hometown ice rink, playing hockey with his father. He loved having a Christmas movie marathon with all of his friends. He loved sharing warm kisses under the mistletoe with  _ him.  _

But as he grew older and time passed, he began to dread the holiday season more and more. As the temperature grew colder, the dull ache within his heart began to resurface until it would consume him whole. He couldn’t even watch the snow falling down from the sky without feeling the need to curl up in his bed and cry until he had no more tears left. The snow reminded Donghyuck too much of  _ him.  _ The happy memories that the holiday season once held for him were replaced by nothing but a painful heartache. 

Donghyuck had thought that with time, the pain would fade away but it wasn’t the case. If anything, with each Christmas, the pain in his heart seemed to just intensify. With that, he stopped calling off work and going back home for Christmas. He couldn’t handle the pitiful and worried stares that his family members would send his way whenever he came home. He was fragile but he wasn’t breakable, he didn’t need his family to tiptoe around him like they did. It made getting over  _ him  _ even harder. 

He didn’t even know how it had happened in the first place. They were never supposed to break up. They were meant to be forever. They were  _ perfect _ for each other. Everyone thought that. He did too. But he guessed fate didn’t. 

And on those days where reality hits Donghyuck a little stronger than usual, reminding him of what he lost, Donghyuck wants to curse everything in sight. He wants to curse the heavens above for taking away the one he loved the most. But Donghyuck especially wants to curse the God that  _ he  _ had so faithfully believed in for letting what they had together slip away. It wasn’t fair, he thought. But life was never fair, he guessed.

So, Donghyuck tried to move on. 

The moment the weather got colder and he began to hear Christmas music being played on the radio, it was time for him to go into what his friends like to call his “winter isolation.” Donghyuck would pack on the workload, taking all the hours. It was physically and mentally taxing, taking on so many projects during the holiday season but for him, the more the better. It kept him occupied and filled up all of his spare time so that he wouldn’t have to think about  _ him.  _

Which was why he didn’t hesitate at all when their head project manager, Doyoung, asked who would like to take on the annual global marketing project. 

“I’ll do it,” Donghyuck spoke out, his hand raised high in the air. He ignored all the shocked stares directed his way as he added, “I’ll take on the project.”

Eyes wide, Doyoung asked, “Are you sure? You’re handling a lot of projects already, Donghyuck.”

“I’ll be fine. Plus, it’s not like anyone else wants to take it, right?” 

At this comment, the entire room fell silent. Everyone’s eyes were directed elsewhere, even Doyoung himself. 

Barely able to suppress a scoff from leaving his lips, Donghyuck simply shook his head. The annual year end project wasn’t hard, it was relatively easy and simple. The only thing was that it required the team member who took it on to spend a majority of their time in the office instead of at home with their loved ones. Plus, the said team member was forced to host the international team member from their USA branch for the whole duration of the project too. 

A complete invasion of privacy, Renjun had told him one year when he was stuck with the project. Renjun had complained to him daily about the old man that he had to house for the project and how terrible it was. Even his boyfriend had complained about it one evening when Donghyuck had come over for dinner. 

But Donghyuck was single, so he didn’t mind. He’ll take whatever he can to take his mind off of less happier things. 

Passing the project’s portfolio to him, Doyoung said, “Well, good luck to you kiddo. The USA branch representative should be arriving shortly.”

Donghyuck just nodded as he began to flip through the contents of the portfolio. As he did this, his mind barely registered the sound of Doyoung dismissing everyone else back to their work, before they all filtered out, leaving him all alone in the meeting room. All that was on his mind was the new project in his hand.

He read through each file until the numbers and words blur together on the page. It’s only then that Donghyuck finally decided that it was time for him to take a break. Upon taking a glance at his watch, he realized that he had spent a lot more time in the meeting room than expected. He had immersed himself in the files so much that he had skipped lunch, it was well past two o’clock. 

Sighing heavily, Donghyuck organized all the papers back into the portfolio before getting up to leave. He figured that he could grab a quick lunch from the office's cafe and still make it back in time to meet the international representative that he’d be hosting for the following couple of weeks. 

As his hand reached for the door handle to leave, Donghyuck was not expecting for someone from the other side to open it as well. Being completely unprepared for this sudden action, he barely had time to step back before the door would hit him in the face. In his haste to get away, he had rather ungracefully stumbled over his own two feet. 

“Oh, whoa, there,” A velvety voice called out to him as a warm hand wrapped itself around his wrist, pulling him back onto his feet. “Sorry, I didn’t think that anyone was going to be behind the door.”

“No, you’re fine.” Donghyuck mumbled back, a bit embarrassed. But scrambling to hold the thick portfolio in his arms, he added, “Thanks for not letting me fall on my ass though. That would have been so embarrassing.”

The laugh that rang out through the room, sent his heart racing at how familiar it sounded. Clenching the documents in his arms tight, Donghyuck held his breath as he kept his eyes down on the floor. 

“Don’t worry. I got you.” 

At the sound of those words, he gasped, his heart racing even faster than before as his head snapped up. Jaw growing slack, Donghyuck couldn’t believe who he saw standing before him.

There with a small smile on his face was none other than  _ Mark Lee.  _

Mark takes it upon himself to continue on with the conversation as he said rather softly, “It’s been awhile, hasn’t it, Donghyuck?”

Donghyuck’s entire body locks up as his name falls from Mark’s mouth. The searing pain within his chest intensifies as he stares back at the man in front of him. His throat clog up as he feels the tears begin to form. 

It has been a long time. It’s been so long that Donghyuck almost forgot how just Mark’s presence made him feel. Or the way that he spoke his name made him feel so alive. Sure, it hurt but at the same time, it eased Donghyuck’s soul as he stood there in front of him.

Taking a deep breath, Donghyuck tried his best to calm his frantic heart. Then extending his hand out, he said through trembling lips, “It’s nice to see you, Mark. I’m guessing you’re here as the international representative at this year’s project?”

Mark wrapped his hand around his, holding it tightly as he replied, “Yeah, I am.”

If seeing Mark had sent his heart racing as it did, feeling Mark’s hold on his hand sent his heart almost popping out of his chest. Unknowingly as he became so overwhelmed by all the emotions circling around in his body, Donghyuck tightened his grasp on Mark’s hand, making the latter gasp out loud. 

Eyes widening, Donghyuck mentally hit himself at how stupid he was to lose control like that. Donghyuck immediately tried to pull his hand back with the words of an apology on the tip of his tongue, only to have Mark grasp his hand even tighter, not letting him go. 

“I… let you go once, Hyuck. I won’t let you go again for a second time.” Mark whispered, his gaze pinning him down.

Donghyuck allowed his heart to be swayed by Mark’s words for a second before he ripped his hand out from within Mark’s warm grasp. Then shaking his head, he cleared his throat, trying to calm himself down. “Uh… I need to talk to my manager about something in regards to the project. So, if you could, uh, excuse me.” 

Donghyuck didn't even bother to stick around long enough to hear Mark’s reply as he dashed out the door not a second later. Before he left the room though, Donghyuck did not miss the sad expression that Mark had on his face. If he hadn’t torn his eyes away from him any less quicker, Donghyuck would have abandoned all thoughts and stayed behind. 

.

Donghyuck dashed out of the room, heading straight for Doyoung’s office with a mission on his hands. Not even bothering to knock on the door to the older man’s office, Donghyuck simply barged right in, which almost caused Doyoung to have a heart attack.

With a hand on his chest, Doyoung threw a glare at Donghyuck, his lips pressed into a thin line. “You literally just saw me not more than five minutes ago, Donghyuck. What could possibly be so pressing that you stormed into my office without even knocking?”

“I want to withdraw from the project.”

“What?” Doyoung exclaimed, not believing what he just heard. Shaking his head, he said, “You were fine with it not more than a couple of minutes ago? I even asked you twice to see if you were okay with it.”

“Well,” Donghyuck began, his hand clenching around the portfolios in his arms. “That was a couple minutes ago. I’m not okay with it anymore.” 

“That’s too bad, because you already accepted it, Donghyuck. And even if I let you off of the project, you know that no one else will take it.” 

“Can’t you just make an exception this time, hyung?” Donghyuck pleaded, his voice weavering as he spoke. 

“Is the international representative that bad that you want to drop out of the project?” Doyoung asked him with a sigh. Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he added, “I’m sure that he’s not that bad, Hyuck. Just give him a chance, I’m sure that it’ll work out fine.”

“But,” Donghyuck cried out. “You don’t understand, Hyung, I really  _ can’t. _ ”

“Have you even tried to?” 

At this, Donghyuck was at a loss for words. Did he try? No, but could he? Absolutely not. Donghyuck knew that no matter what he or Mark could have done, it wouldn’t have saved either of them from this heartbreak. He was sure of it. Because fate just didn’t think that they were meant to be together as they had thought they were. And nothing can get in the way of fate, not even two young boys so crazily and madly in love with one another. 

Seeing how stumped Donghyuck was, Doyoung nodded as he returned his attention back to what he was originally doing before Donghyuck came barging in. “Exactly. Give it a couple days, Hyuck. It’ll work out. Now, go back and give the international representation a tour of the office. Once you’re done, you may leave the office early to help him settle in at your house.” 

.

Donghyuck immediately searched for Renjun the second that he left Doyoung’s office. He found him laughing at something a couple of his coworkers were saying, head thrown back as he laughed along with them. 

Not even being apologetic, Donghyuck tugged on his arm, pulling him to the side. “You won't believe who the international representative is?”

“Oh, don’t tell me you got stuck with that old man again?” Renjun sighed as he shook his head at Donghyuck’s unfortunate luck. Scoffing, he added, “Shoot, I didn’t think that that old man would live to see another year. Yet, here he is, working on the annual project again.”

Donghyuck shook his head. Lips pressed together in a thin line, he muttered, “No. God, I would take that old man any day over the one that I’m working with.”

“Who is it? They can’t possibly be any worse than that old man, Hyuck.”

“Trust me, way worse, Renjun. Like the absolute worst.” Donghyuck told him, his heart still beating frantically in his chest. 

“Really? Alright, introduce me to this asshole, I’ll show him what’s up.” Renjun cracked his knuckles, eyes ablaze. Nodding his head, he scanned the whole floor, searching for the international representative. “Take me to him, Hyuck. I’ll make him regret even trying to make life hard for you.” 

“Um… that would be me.” A voice spoke out to them timidly.

Renjun spun around on his heels, ready to release his wrath upon the person for even daring to make Donghyuck upset, only to freeze when he saw who it was. Jaw dropping wide open, Renjun looked over at Donghyuck completely flabbergasted. Then giving Mark a rather awkward laugh, he squeaked out a brief ‘hello’ before turning over to his equally frozen best friend.

“You never fucking told me that it was Mark.” Renjun hissed at him, being careful about his volume so that the older boy wouldn’t overhear. Just to be sure though, he dropped his voice down a few more notches. “A warning would have been nice, Hyuck. I literally just embarrassed myself right in front of your ex. Not a good start, man.”

“I would have liked a warning too! How do you think I felt?” Donghyuck retorted just as hotly, hands shaking. 

Shaking his head, Renjun gave Donghyuck one last glare before he said, “Well, Hyuck. Sorry to say this, but I think that you’ll have to handle this one on your own. It’s about time that you either move on completely or fix it.” 

Then giving Mark an awkward smile, Renjun spared Donghyuck one last look before he bid the two of them goodbye with talks about how they needed alone time to start on their project. 

Mark’s the first one to break the silence. “Um… Doyoung mentioned something about a brief tour of the office and then to settle into… your place?” His words at the end of the sentence are barely audible, his face becoming a little flushed as he said them. Scratching the nape of his neck, he added, “Not to be super intrusive, but it would be nice if we can do all it really fast because I’m about to crash from the jetlag.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry. You must be really tired from that long flight.” 

Mark gave him a small smile in return.

.

Donghyuck had kept the tour of the office short and before he knew it, he was in the car with Mark on the passenger side, driving home to his apartment. 

The whole car ride was incredibly silent and so awkward, not that he had expected to be anything less. Neither of them had spoken a single word to each other since they’ve left the office. They were halfway to his place when Mark took the initiative to speak first. 

“Can I turn the radio on?” Mark asked, his words cutting through the silence like a knife. 

Not expecting Mark to say anything, Donghyuck whipped his head over to him, eyes wide as if he was a deer caught in headlights. “What?”

“I asked, if, um, I can turn the radio on?” Mark stuttered out, embarrassed that he had to repeat himself. He was already on edge from the start, Donghyuck’s reaction to his simple question added onto his nerves. 

“Oh, yeah. Sure. Go ahead.” Donghyuck breathed out.

He tried to focus on the road ahead, but Donghyuck couldn’t help but sneak a few glances at Mark as he began to play around with the radio stations, switching from one to another, not quite happy with what was playing. Hands gripping the steering wheel, he was about to offer Mark the aux cord when an extremely familiar song began to flow through the car’s stereo, one that had him holding his breath as it played. 

_ Oh everytime I close my eyes, I see my name in shining lights. _

Mark’s fingers were frozen on the stereo as  _ their  _ song continued to fill the car. 

Donghyuck was thankful that they had arrived at a red light as the song continued on, now hitting the chorus. 

_ I wanna be a billionarie so fuckin’ bad. _

With a sigh, Donghyuck reached out to turn the radio off. Not really paying attention, his fingers accidentally brushed against Mark’s hand as he did so, sending a shiver through his entire body as they touched. He pulled his hand back immediately as if the touch had burned him, a quiet apology slipping from his lips. 

“No, sorry. It was my fault.” Mark mumbled back as he stared down at his hands folded in his lap. He avoided eye contact with Donghyuck completely. 

Donghyuck felt his heart clench painfully in his chest at the boy’s words as they seemed to have a deeper underlying meaning to them. He wetted his lips, trying to gather strength to say something back to Mark, but in the end, he opted not to. Instead, he kept the words he wanted to say to himself and continued to drive them to his place in silence. 

.

“And this is my place.” Donghyuck said as he opened the door to his apartment. 

Mark stood outside for a moment before he stepped beyond the threshold. As he flicked the lights on, Mark looked around the place with wide eyes. But not soon after, a confused look etched itself onto his face. 

Voicing his confusion, Mark asked, “No decorations?” 

Taking his fairly empty and lifeless apartment, Donghyuck nodded. “... I don’t really decorate for the holidays anymore…”

“But you love Christmas.” Mark argued, his eyes becoming sad as he stared back at Donghyuck. 

“Yeah. I did.” 

And that was the keyword. Donghyuck did love Christmas. But that was before. Now, Donghyuck honestly kind of hated Christmas. Too many unwanted memories that brought about too many emotions. Decorating his house would only remind him of all those memories. 

Wanting to change the topic, Donghyuck motioned towards his living room. “I’m not sure if you were aware but, um, I don’t have a spare bedroom or anything like that. All that I can offer is my living room couch. Hope that’s okay.” 

“Yeah, no. That’s perfectly fine.” Mark told him. “Thanks for offering to host by the way.” 

“Um, you can go ahead and use the shower first if you would like. I’m going to cook dinner.” 

Once Mark was out of the room, Donghyuck released a breath that he didn’t know that he was holding. Feeling like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, he turned around and headed to the kitchen. Draping his blazer over one of the barstools, Donghyuck proceeded to roll up his sleeves as he got to work. 

Donghyuck mindlessly pulled ingredients out from the fridge and began to cook. His mind didn’t even really register what he was doing nor making, his body was just running on autopilot. 

Before he knew it, he was pouring the food out onto the plates. It was only then that he realized what he had made. And it made his heart clench uncomfortably at what he saw. 

He had made Mark’s favorite, kimchi fried rice for dinner. 

He hadn’t made this particular dish in so long. Donghyuck was surprised that he even remembered how to. 

As he stared at the two plates in front of him, he had half a mind of tossing it out completely. But the sound of the bathroom door opening had him throw that idea out of the window. 

Gnawing on his bottom lip, he watched in anticipation as Mark walked into the kitchen. He had changed out of his business attire from earlier, exchanging it for a pair of grey sweats and an orange hoodie. And of course, he was wearing those adorable circle frames of his. 

As Mark took his seat on the empty barstool, he mumbled a quiet ‘thank you,’ before pulling one of the plates closer to him. 

Even though he knew that it shouldn’t matter, Donghyuck couldn’t help but anticipate Mark’s reaction to the dish. There was a sudden desire to know if it was good enough or whether or not Mark liked it. 

So he stood there, holding his breath yet again as he watched for Mark’s reaction as he took the first bite. 

Mark had been incredibly quiet since he had entered the kitchen and even more so when he had seen what Donghyuck had ended up making for dinner. And that made Donghyuck worried, because what would happen if it wasn’t Mark’s favorite anymore. He wouldn’t have blamed him either if it stopped being Mark’s favorite after they had broken up. He too, made the dish disappear from his mind, that was until now. 

Donghyuck watched as Mark picked up his spoon and dug in, scooping a spoonful of rice. Then blowing on it, to cool it down before eating it. He stood there, feeling like he was going to pass out if Mark didn’t say anything in the next couple of seconds. His heartbeat was drumming so loudly in his ears that he barely caught what Mark had said. 

“Even after all this time, your cooking is still the best.” Mark had mumbled to him as he continued to shovel another spoonful into his mouth. 

Releasing a shaky breath, Donghyuck couldn’t help but joke, “Don’t say that. Your mom will get mad.”

“She won’t. She says the same thing too. She talks about your cooking all the time,” Mark told him. Then as his voice grew a little quieter, Mark added softly, “She misses it too.”

The mention of Mark’s mother having anything kind to say about him had caught him by surprise. Donghyuck didn’t know that Mark’s family still spoke about him after their breakup. But after some thoughts, he figured it wasn’t impossible, since even his family still talked about Mark from time to time. Although they were careful not to speak too loudly in his presence, they still talked about Mark regardless. They were such big figures within each other's lives, it was hard not to bring it up at least once or twice. 

Unable to stop himself, he laughed out loud because this whole moment was just too surreal. Shaking his head, he finally sat down across from Mark and began to eat his portion. “Your mom still bakes the best dessert though. I don’t think that anyone can beat her there.”

Mark nodded with a smile too, on his lips. “You’re not wrong there.”

.

The first night that Mark ended up leaving the office much later than Donghyuck, he found the younger one knocked out across marketing documents and files in the living room. As he closed the door to the apartment door behind him, he was met with the sight when he toes off his shoes. 

Shocked, Mark paused and took in the sight. Taking a brief glance at his watch, a frown found its way onto his face. Donghyuck had mentioned that he was leaving the office earlier than normal, and that he'd meet him home for dinner. Considering the long week that both of them had had with the project, he figured that Donghyuck had gone home to rest, not to continue working. 

Quietly, making his way over to where Donghyuck was, Mark leaned down and picked up one of the papers around him. Reading it briefly, Mark noticed that it was one of the projects that the department head talked about the other day. From what he had managed to catch, it was a project handled by another team member months ago but at the last second, they had dropped out. It had really given the department a huge headache as everyone had their hands full with end of the year deadlines and holidays, no one was available to pick up on the rest of the half completed project. 

He hadn’t expected Donghyuck to be the person to take it. 

Shaking his head, Mark laid the paper back down and began to work on organizing the mess that was before him. Shuffling all of the papers into its portfolio and then pushing the files to the side, Mark moved to close Donghyuck’s laptop. Careful to not wake the boy up, he slid the laptop from under Donghyuck’s arm. Then with extra care, Mark slipped his arm under Donghyuck’s legs and picked him up. 

His breath stilled as he felt Donghyuck stirr slightly within his arms, Donghyuck’s head resting upon his shoulder. He stood there for a moment as he waited for Donghyuck to hopefully go back to sleep. With his breathing returning back to normal, coming out in warm puffs against his neck, Mark continued to make his way to Donghyuck’s room. 

He tucked him under the covers, making sure to loosen the buttons of his dress shirt as he did so. Once Donghyuck was settled in, Mark allowed his fingers to linger on Donghyuck’s face. Mark couldn’t help but smile as he traced his finger across his face, connecting the dots to the constellations of beauty marks. Then he brushed away a few stray locks away from his forehead before leaning in and placing a tender kiss on Donghyuck’s temple. As he pulled away, Mark’s entire body locked up. 

With wide eyes, he stared back down at Donghyuck in shock. 

He just  _ kissed  _ Donghyuck. He kissed Donghyuck. 

Standing upright almost instantly, Mark took a step back, wanting to distance himself from the sleeping boy. Fingers flying up to touch his lips, he stood there stunned at his own actions. 

What was he thinking? He couldn’t go around and give Donghyuck kisses like that. They weren’t together anymore for him to be doing things like that. It really wasn’t appropriate.

Sure, it wasn’t on the lips, thank God that he didn’t. But still. He shouldn’t have done that. One, Donghyuck wasn’t even awake to defend himself. Mark didn’t know if he even wanted that kind of affection from him anymore. Secondly, it was terrible for his heart. That simple kiss stirred some many emotions that Mark had decided to lock up after their break up. And that one kiss managed to unlock them all. 

Feeling the need to leave the room before he would go insane, Mark hastily turned off the bedside lamp before he practically dashed out the door, heart hammering in his chest. 

.

When Donghyuck woke up, his mind was all sorts of confused because the last thing that he remembered was working on the marketing project in the living room. How did he make it to his bedroom and tucked in his bed? Donghyuck didn’t have a single clue. 

Sitting up his bed, Donghyuck pulled at the stuffy dress shirt as he tried to sniffle back a yawn. Then glancing at the clock on his bedside table, he couldn’t help but groan at the time that the display clock read back at him. It was five fifty eight in the morning, meaning he has just about an hour or so before he would have to head back into the office. 

Donghyuck began shuffling around within his room, getting ready for another long day ahead of him. 

After a shower, a change of clothes, and brushing his teeth, Donghyuck felt like a whole entire new person. Fully awake and energized for the day, he walked out of his room with the intention of having a hearty breakfast. But he stopped short of his mission when he saw Mark stirring awake from the couch. 

Donghyuck winced as he watched the older boy roll his neck around a few times, breaking the kinks in it. The most painful part was when Mark stood up from the makeshift bed and his back cracked an embarrassing amount of times. 

Not bothering to think it over, Donghyuck opened his mouth and voiced his concern. “Sleeping like that is going to be so bad to your back. You’re going to be a grandpa by the time you leave.”

Eyes hazy with sleep, Mark gave him a loop-sided smile before saying, “Oh, it’s okay. I’ll live.”

Rolling his eyes, Donghyuck sighed at his answer. “Well, duh. You’ll live but why live a life in so much pain.”

“Well, what do you want me to do then? You can’t make an extra bedroom appear out of thin air could you?”

“No. But I have a better option than you having a broken back.”

“Which is?”

“You can sleep in my bed with me.” 

The second those words left Donghyuck’s mouth, the both of them froze up.

Mark snapped his head up so fast that Donghyuck was sure that he had gotten a whiplash from it. Meanwhile, Donghyuck was mentally beating himself for even offering such a stupid idea. 

Him and Mark, sleeping together, in the same bed? Was he fucking insane? What kind of exes sleep together in the same bed after having broken up for years? No one in their right minds that’s for sure. 

But since he had offered it, Donghyuck couldn’t just retract his offer. That would make him look even worse. 

So he stood there, waiting anxiously for Mark’s response. 

“I, um, is that like okay with you?” Mark stuttered out, his fingers reaching up to fix his circular frames. It was a subconscious habit of his when he was nervous and Donghyuck found it pretty cute that he was still doing it. 

Trying to be as nonchalant as possible, Donghyuck cleared his throat before nodding and saying, “Yeah. Completely. I have a pretty big bed anyways. Definitely big enough for two people to share.”

Then to his complete and utter surprise, Mark let out a long exhale before locking eyes with him. With the brightest smile that he hasn’t seen in so long, Mark laughed, “That would be great because in all honesty, your couch is equivalent to sleeping on a brick.” 

.

Later that night, when the both of them had called it quits for the night, they stood in Donghyuck’s bedroom, staring awkwardly at the bed that they had decided to share. 

Mark was the first to speak as he asked, “Um, do you still prefer to sleep on the right side of the bed?”

“Y-yeah.” Donghyuck swallowed.

“Then you can take the right side. Since for one, it’s your bed. And secondly, I still sleep on the left side of the bed too, so it works out…”

“Yeah… I guess it does.” 

Neither of them moved, they stayed rooted in their spots, waiting for the other to make the first move. They simply stood there, hands in their pockets, trying hard to avoid each other’s gazes. Awkward was a complete understatement to how the situation felt. 

Seeing that Mark wasn’t going to do anything without him urging him to do so, Donghyuck decided to break the tension. 

His feet padded quietly across the room until he was at his side of the bed. Then pulling the covers back, he spoke to Mark over his shoulders, mumbling, tone teasing, “Are you going to sleep standing up or what?”

“O-oh, um, no.” Mark stuttered out, cheeks flushing red even under the dark. 

“Then get over here, dummy,” Donghyuck told him as he got into bed. “We both have early meetings tomorrow, we should get some sleep.”

Mark nodded his head, still dazed, as he walked over to the other side of the bed and slipping under the covers. 

Donghyuck could feel his hesitation and his desire to keep as much space as possible between them. Trying to ignore Mark’s warm presence as best as he could, Donghyuck closed his eyes and willed his heart to calm down. At the rate that his heart was beating in his chest, he was sure that even Mark could hear it. 

He felt Mark attempt to put a pillow in between them to create a barrier. Part of him was glad that Mark had taken the initiative to put a barrier so that they wouldn’t cross each other’s personal boundaries. But the other half of him was disappointed in the fact that Mark’s warmth seemed so far away now that there was a pillow separating them. 

Trying hard to not think about this too much, Donghyuck listened to Mark toss and turn on his side of the bed a few more times before seeming to find a comfortable position. As silence met his ears, Donghyuck finally fell asleep.

Because what could possibly happen right?

.

His mind had warned him on the consequences and his heart was well aware of it too, but he just didn’t want to come to terms with it. So when he woke up the next morning, face tucked into Mark’s neck and a warm hand on his waist, Donghyuck wasn’t too surprised. 

But he still froze up within Mark’s arm, his breath caught in his throat. 

As quietly as he could, without disturbing the sleeping boy, Donghyuck tried to slip out from his arms. But that didn’t seem like an option because the second he tried to wiggle his body out, Mark tightened his hold. 

Then with a voice barely coherent and laced with sleep, Mark said, “Five more minutes…” As he said this, Mark snuggled deeper into Donghyuck’s hair, sending his heart into overdrive.

With his heart beating the way that it was and his mind turning into complete mush, all that Donghyuck could do was lay there in his arms. 

At first, Mark’s hold on him burned him. His touches were burning holes into his skin, it drove him insane. As seconds began to turn into minutes though, his body began to relax within Mark’s hold. Slumping into Mark’s chest, Donghyuck decided to simply enjoy the moment rather than create a fuss about a situation that he wasn’t in control of anymore. 

Moving so that he was in a much more comfortable position, Donghyuck laid his head upon Mark’s chest, listening to his steady heartbeat and letting it lul him back to sleep again. 

It was barely more than half an hour later that Mark’s cell phone alarm rang out loudly. Not used to the sound, Donghyuck let out a loud groan, voicing his discomfort at being woken up again so rudely. He barely heard Mark’s quiet mumble of an apology before he untangled himself from Donghyuck and slipped out to turn off the alarm. 

Acting without much thought, Donghyuck’s whines became louder at the sudden loss of body warmth as Mark left the room. Pulling the covers tighter around his body, he called out, “I'm cold… Come back...”

He heard Mark’s laugh rang out throughout the apartment at his constant whining. Then hollering from the living room, Mark called out, “Alright, you big baby, I’m coming back. Just give me a few minutes.” 

“No, now…” Donghyuck pouted.

At any other time, Donghyuck would have been so embarrassed that he was acting the way that he was acting right now. But sleepy Donghyuck was a whole entirely different person. So he didn’t feel one ounce of embarrassment for what he was doing. All that sleepy Donghyuck cared about was having Mark back in bed and to warm him up again.

As Mark had promised, he carefully slipped back under the covers and pulled Donghyuck to his chest not more than five minutes later. Donghyuck felt Mark ran his fingers gently through his hair, coaxing him back to sleep. 

.

After that morning, something had shifted between the two of them. It was unspoken but they’ve both crossed into a territory that they’ve both swore up and down to never cross since the beginning of the project. 

Before they knew it, sharing the bed together at night and waking up in each other's arms became a daily routine for them, amongst other things.

They would switch off between who would make breakfast in the morning. On the days that Donghyuck woke up before Mark, he took it upon himself to make a full breakfast spread. He took the time to make everything possible, from simple things such as avocado toast to nutella waffles. Then on days where Mark happened to wake up earlier, he still tried his best to prepare a little something for Donghyuck in the morning. Most of the time though, it was just milk and cereal. Sometimes maybe even some cut up fruit. Donghyuck didn’t mind, though. He loved it. 

Before Mark had taken the subway or a cab to work, even on mornings where they both left at the same time. Now, it was without a question that they would carpool together. It just made more sense that way. Not to mention both of them relished in the time that they were able to spend with each other because the days were beginning to tick down. They didn’t have that many days left with each other. It had already been more than a month since the project had officially started. 

Maybe this was why, when Mark had caught onto Donghyuck’s longing look at the skating rinks after a meeting with one of the investors, an idea popped into his head. 

Donghyuck stuttered out excuses to not go, but Mark simply pulled him along, heading straight for the rinks. And Donghyuck was kind of glad that he did because Donghyuck  _ loved _ ice skating. 

He’s practically buzzing with excitement as they stood in line to get a pair of rental skates. Unable to keep his excitement at bay, he clutched Mark's arm, giggling. “I haven’t skated in so freaking long. Oh, my gosh!”

Mark looked down at him with so much adoration in his eyes that Donghyuck felt like he was going to melt into a pile of goo if he didn’t look away. At Donghyuck’s red cheeks, Mark shook his head and laughed out loud, clearly enjoying his reaction. 

The line for the rental skates moved quickly and before he knew it, Mark was kneeling in front of him, helping him put on the skates. He laced up Donghyuck’s skates in record time and it never failed to amaze Donghyuck how fast he was able to do it. But Donghyuck figured that years of playing hockey aided Mark with that skill. 

Once both of their skates were on and their belongings locked away, Mark was eagerly tugging Donghyuck to the rinks. With how fast Mark was skating along on the rink, Donghyuck stumbled a few times as he tried to keep up with the older boy’s pace. But Mark was right there by his side to catch him each time he wobbled for a second. 

Hands on his waist, holding him steady, Mark smiled at him. “Don’t worry, I gotchu.” 

At his familiar words, Donghyuck couldn't help but smile brightly back at him. Head thrown back in laughter, he allowed Mark to take him away on the ice. And when Mark was zipping around the rink at neck breaking speeds, Donghyuck tightened his hold on Mark’s hand, shouting out in glee. 

This was one of the many reasons why he loved the holidays.

The other reason why he loved the holidays was decorating for Christmas. He loved spending a ridiculous amount of money on decorations and covering his entire place with it. Christmas for him started from November first all the way until the New Year. Donghyuck didn’t care what anyone had to say, but Christmas was a two month ordeal for him. 

So when Mark suggested that they go out and buy some Christmas decorations for his apartment one day during dinner, Donghyuck was ecstatic. 

The entire ride to the store, he was belting Christmas songs at the top of his lungs with Mark. They played every deluxe Christmas album there was and even after singing “It’s Beginning to Look like Christmas” back to back, five times in a row, neither of them got tired of it. 

Once they entered the store, Donghyuck left Mark in the dust as he ran straight for the section of the holiday decor. As Mark called after him to slow down, he merely shouted back to him, “Come on you old gramps, we got some shopping to do!”

“I’m literally only a year older than you, Hyuck!”

“Okay, boomer!”

Donghyuck briefly heard Mark mumble under his breath, probably something about their age difference but he didn’t really pay attention because all of his focus was on the rows upon rows of ornaments in front of them. “There’s so many to choose from. They’re all so cute, how am I supposed to choose only one?”

“Well, you can be that extremely obnoxious person and just have multiple trees in their home.”

Eyes shining bright, Donghyuck looked at Mark as if he just found the solution to world peace. Hands grasped together, he exclaimed, “You’re so smart! I’m going to have three trees in my apartment. I don’t even care if it doesn’t fit. I’m going to have three and that’s final.”

And that was how Mark ended up lugging three Christmas trees up the stairs to Donghyuck’s later that night with just about a million bags of ornaments in hand as Donghyuck rambled on about what theme each tree was going to have. 

.

  
  


Of course all good things have to come to an end, right?

The remaining days that they had left with each other dwindled down until Mark only had less than twenty four hours before he had to fly back to Canada. 

Donghyuck had taken it upon himself to submit the project to Doyoung on behalf of the two of them. He had handed in the project with a heavy heart and nearly bursted into tears when Doyoung had made the mistake of asking when Mark’s flight was. 

With the time of Mark’s departure clouding his mind, he bid a goodbye to Doyoung as soon as the man gave him the okay on their project submission. 

He all but stumbled into Mark’s waiting arms when he came home. 

Donghyuck wanted to cry so bad but he tried his best to keep his tears at bay. He didn’t want their last few moments with each other to be sad. They still had the company’s Holiday Gala to attend together and he was going to enjoy every last bit of it until the very end. He wasn’t going to allow himself to wallow in sadness with the time that he had left with Mark before he left. 

So, he plastered on a brave smile and helped Mark with his tie. Hands trembling and voice shaking, he said, “Why don’t you look incredibly snazzy tonight.”

But Mark knew him better than the facade he was trying to put on. 

Stopping his movements, Mark placed his hand over Donghyuck’s, holding them tight. Then with his other hand, he cupped Donghyuck’s face, thumb caressing his cheek. Softly, he told him, “Hey… look at me, Donghyuck.” 

Donghyuck shook his head, eyes looking anywhere else but Mark. He knew that if he were to look at him, Donghyuck was going to break out into tears for sure. His eyes were already burning with unshed tears. 

Mark sighed. He tilted Donghyuck’s face up so that he could make eye contact with him. The second their eyes connected with each other, Donghyuck let a soft cry slip past his lips. 

“Oh, Hyuck. Don’t cry. You’re going to make me cry.”

Sniffling, Donghyuck managed to cry out, “Well, sucks to be you because I’m going to cry anyways.”

And that he did. 

Donghyuck sobbed out ugly cry and so uncontrollably that it caught Mark by surprise at first. Quick to recompose himself though, Mark pulled Donghyuck straight into his chest, arms wrapped tightly around Donghyuck’s shaking form. 

Mark’s hug simply made him cry even louder. Donghyuck was practically wailing at his point as his tears wetted the front of Mark’s shirt straight. 

“Hey, Hyuck. Baby, it’s okay. It’ll be okay.”

At the mention of his pet name, Donghyuck gripped onto the back of Mark’s shirt, exclaiming, “No, it’s not!”

“Oh, don’t say that. You’ll be okay. I’ll be okay. We’ll be okay, baby.”

Pulling back from the embrace, Donghyuck glared at him angrily, hot tears spilling over his cheeks. With a shake of his head, he punched Mark lightly on the chest as he argued, “Nothing is okay, Mark. Everything is definitely not okay, not at all.”

As Mark was about to open his mouth to refute Donghyuck’s words, Donghyuck beat him to it and continued on with his rant, “No, seriously. How is anything okay when you’re leaving me, yet again, in less than a couple hours? I know that we’re not exactly back to together or what not, but to me, it feels like we are. And I just can’t stand the mere idea of you walking out of my life again, Mark. I just can’t…”

“Like who is going to be there to remind me to take my daily vitamins? Because you know I never remember to. Or who is going to be there to give me reassuring kisses and hugs when I feel like an absolute failure in life? Or who is going to keep me warm at night and shower me with kisses when I wake up in the morning?

“I know that I kind of hated you when you first arrived here and I wanted almost nothing to do with you but that’s all changed. Maybe fate decided that we weren’t done with each other yet, that’s why it gave me another chance with you with this whole work project. Fate gave me a second chance to find my own happiness in this life. There’s no way it was a mere coincidence that you ended up being the international representative of this project and is also the person I needed to host for the entire time you’re here in Korea. No, it has to be fate. I’m sure of it.” 

Donghyuck is practically out of breath at this point, his tears clogging up his throat. Taking a deep breath, he whispered through a weak smile, “But it seemed like fate had a change in plans I guess. Since you’re leaving me again…” Then he asked softly, “Do you remember when you had asked me what I wanted for Christmas?”

Mark nodded, his eyes turning just as equally red as Donghyuck’s.

“Well… all I want for Christmas is you, Mark Lee.”

Donghyuck can’t help but smile when he saw how Mark is affected by his answer. Mark stared back at him with wide eyes, lips slightly parted as if he didn’t think that that Donghyuck would say something like that. Then in a split second, Mark pulled him into a bone crushing hug, Mark’s cries vibrating his entire soul. 

Mark holds him against him with so much love and care that Donghyuck broke out into tears again. Crying so hard until he was hiccupping, Donghyuck hoped that Mark felt that same way he did and that he wasn’t reading the whole situation incorrectly. He didn't feel reassured until he heard what Mark said next. 

“You’re seriously so dumb if you think that I’m leaving here without you. I let you go once, Hyuck. I’m not going to let it happen again. Never, not even over my dead body,” Mark told him, holding onto him as if he was his life line. “I love you so much, Donghyuck. I don’t think you can even fathom the amount of love I have for you.

“You are the air that I breathe. You’re the sun to my moon. You’re literally my entire universe and so much more. There aren’t enough words in the world to describe what you mean to me, Donghyuck. And I’m not just saying this to be cheesy but because it is the truth.”

As he said this, he managed to get a small laugh from Donghyuck that made it a little easier for him to breathe, knowing that Donghyuck wasn’t upset as he was. 

Placing a kiss on Donghyuck’s nose, he held Donghyuck’s face in the palm of his hand, making sure that he was looking at him directly in the eye. “Now that I have your attention and you know that I love you very much, let me say what I was going to say before you practically had a breakdown in my arms.”

Donghyuck nodded, his sobs subsided into shaky breaths. 

“What I was going to tell you was that I canceled my flight back home, because I’ve decided to stay here, with  _ you _ , Hyuck.” 

“Wait, are you serious?” Donghyuck stuttered out once his mind fully comprehended what Mark had just told him. 

“Yes,” Mark smiled. “I’m a hundred percent serious.”

“So you’re telling me that you’re not leaving? And you’re going to stay here, with me? Which means I get to cuddle with you every night and continue to get my daily morning kisses from you?” Donghyuck asked excitedly. 

“Yes, yes, and yes, baby. I'm all yours from now on.” Eyes gleaming with so much happiness, Mark held onto Donghyuck’s 

Donghyuck promptly let out the loudest scream possible before he leant forward and kissed the living daylights out of Mark. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Robin and Xie for organizing this fic exchange! I've had such a wonderful time with it and it was only possible because of you two!
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/snapchattingnct/status/1171284194196111360?s=20) | [cc](https://curiouscat.me/snapchattingnct)


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